Intermittent driving mechanism



Jan. 2, 1934.

A. E. HlNE INTERMITTENT DRIVING MECHANISM Filed Oct.y 6, 1950 2 Sheets-sheet 1 Jan. 2, 1934.

A. E. HINE INTERIMITTVENT DRIVING NIECHNISMi Filed'oct. 6, 1930 2 sheets-sheet 2 A TTORNE Y Patented Jan. 2, 1934' 1,942,028

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1,942,028 INTERMITTENT DRIVING MECHANISM Alfred E. Hine, Sedalia, Mo., assigner to Eric W. Bacharach, Kansas City, Mo.

Application October 6, 1930. Serial No. 486,700 8 Claims. (Cl. 'i4-53) My invention relates to material feeding appashaft 8 rotatively supported by the frame for ratus and more particularly to machines for inmoving material in measured quantities from the termittently delivering measured quantities of trough into a container 13 connected with the dry material, the principal objects of the invenlower end of the housing 4.

5 tion being to assure delivery of equal quantities Fixed to the outer end of the shaft 8 is a bevel 60 of material at equal intervals of time by appagear 9 meshed with a bevel gear 10 on the lower ratus of this character, to vary the quantities fed end of a shaft 11 rotatively retained in suitable by equal increments, and to render material disbearing brackets supported by the frame includplacing means accurately responsive to adjusting a bracket 12 mounted on a shelf 13. Mountments of intermittently eiective driving mechaed on the upper end of the shaft 11 is a bevel 65 nism. gear 14 rotative over the end edge of the bearing Further particular objects of my invention are bracket 12 and located to be engaged alternately to vary the quantities of material delivered by by oppositely arranged spaced bevel gear segextremely small increments, and to assure dements 15 and 16 keyed on the outer end of a 15 livery of equal extremely small quantities of inarotating shaft 17 journaled in bearings 18 and 70 terial proportionate to equal intermittent move- 19 mounted on frame-supported shelves 20 and ments of driving mechanism. 21 respectively.

In accomplishing these and other objects of A motor 22 mounted on a platform 23 supplies the invention, I have provided improved details the energy for intermittently rotating the shaft of structure, the preferred form of which is illus- 17 to operate the feeder, the power being trans- 75 trated in the accompanying drawings, wherein: mitted through a reduction gear device 24, an

Fig. l is a perspective view of a portion of a eccentric 25 operated by said gear, and a conmaterial feeding machine equipped with my irnnecting rod 26 having one end pivoted to said proved regulating device, parts being broken away disk in an eccentric position and its opposite end i 25 to better illustrate other parts. pivoted to a rocking lever 27 having -a `sleeve-like so Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the regulator ininner end 28 loosely mounted on said shaft 17, cluding disks and a scale, and an indicator nger and adapted as presently described to effect inand feeder-operating pitman shown fragmentermittent rotative movement of the shaft 17. tarily, one disk being partly broken away to show Pivotally mounted on a laterally projecting 30 a Spring. pin 29 at the outer free end of the lever 27 is a 85 Fig. 3 is a central section on the line 3 3, Fig. 2, locking pawl 30 including a relatively long weight a feeder operating shaft being shown fragmenleg 31 and a short head or leg 32 provided with tarily. an end face 33 having slight eccentricity with Fig. 4 is an elevation similar to that of Fig. 2 reference to the pivot 29, for a purpose presently 35 showing the feeder-operating pawl in driving endescribed. 90 gagement with a segment pivotally attached to a A driven traction wheel or disk 34 rigidly keyed disk xed to the feeder-operating shaft. to the shaft 17 adjacent the lever is provided Fig. 5 is a fragmentary vertical section of the with a peripheral face covering 35 of high wear open lower end of a hopper and a material-disresistance and friction creating material lsuch charging device in receiving relation therewith. as brake lining to receive the face of the pawl 95 Fig. 6 is an elevation of gearing for transmitunder controlled conditions presently described ting motion between two shafts shown fragmenfor effecting intermittent movement of the shaft tarily. responsive to reciprocative movement of the bar Referring in detail to the drawings: 26, lever 27, and pawl 30 in one direction. 1 designates generally a frame including ver- In the illustrated structure, the lever 27 is 100 tical corner and intermediate posts connected by adapted to reciprocate over an arc of Vapproxivertically spaced horizontal bars or angles for mately 90 having its bisector in the vertical disupporting a hopper 2 having a reduced lower end ameter of the shaft 17, t0 swing the depending provided with a discharge mouth 3. pawl back and forth, and the short leg of the Slidable in a trough 4 in a housing 4 and bepawl extends from the pivot 29 in the direction 105 low the hopper mouth is a reciprocable plunger 5 of counter-clockwise movement of the lever, formed on the inner end of a rod including a whereby the weighted leg 31 will tend to enforce rack 6 projecting laterally from the frame and engagement of the pawl face with the tractor constantly meshed with a toothed wheel or gear wheel when the lever moves to the right Ain segment member 7 fixed to a transverse rocking Figs. 2 and 4. 1110 The pawl is adapted to be restrained from engagement with the wheel 34 over a part of its travel in counter-clockwise direction, to limit the extent of movement of the wheel, by regulating mechanism now to be described.

Freely rotatable on the shaft 17 adjacent the wheel 34 and on the oposite side thereof fro-m the lever 27, is a pawl-controlling or regulator disk 36 including sleeve-like hub members 37 and 38 on opposite sides thereof spaced from the opening in the disk which receives the shaft to form respectively a spring supporting bracket and a socket 39 for the inner end of a tube or hollow shaft 40 sleeved on the shaft 17 and fixed to the disk 36. The sleeve 40 is adapted to be moved rotatively in either direction by slight increments and to be fixed in vselected position, by means presently described including a worm gear 41 mounted on the sleeve and fixed thereto.

Rigidly mounted on that face of the disk 36 which is presented to the wheel 34 is a fixed segment 42 having an arcuate outer peripheral face 43 concentric with the axis of the disk and preferably spaced inwardly from the periphery of the disk, and beveled end faces 44 and 45. A movable segment 46 has one end pivotally mounted on a pin 47 and end faces 48 and 49 beveled complementarily to the end faces of the segment 42 for end to end abutment therewith to form a circularly arranged track, and is adapted to pivot inwardly toward the axis of the disk away from the segment 42 under iniiuence of the pawl as presently described.

A vdepression 50 is formed in the outer face of the segment 46 preferably sloping steeply inwardly and away from the point near the pivot 47 to provide a sharply inclined track portion 51, and preferably sloping less `steeply outwardly from the bottom thereof, the length of the depression being limited to provide a free outer end portion of the segment adapted to align with the fixed segment 42.

Located within the ring formed by the segments 42 and 46 is a spring 52 preferably semielliptical in fo-rm having one end fixed to the hub 37 and an outer free end bearing against the inner edge or peripheral face o-f the pivotal segment 46. The spring exerts a force outwardly to tend to hold the segment 46 in alignment with the segment 42 to form said circularly arranged track comprising the combined outer edge faces of the two segments.

Freely rotatable on a lateral pin 53 rigidly attached to the pawl leg 32, adjacent the end face thereof, is a roller 54 running on the composite track and constantly engaging the same due to limited revolving movement of the weighted pawl, whereby the pawl is restrained from engagement with the tractor wheel except when the roller enters the depression 50 in the segment 46.

The moving pawl is enabled to move forwardly in driving engagement with the tractor wheel, due to the depressible character of the pivotal segment 46 mounted on the locked disk, the roller moving the pivot inwardly against the influence of the spring 52, and the spring returning the segment 46 into alignment with the segment 42 when the pawl reaches the end of its arcuate path of tavel to support the roller and pawl for free retractive movement. The extent of movement of the tractor wheel and shaft 17 is proportionate to the spacing of the depression 50 from the terminus of the path of travel of the pawl, said spacing being regulated by adjusting the disk 36,.

as will now be described.

Preferably suspended beneath and engaging the worm gear 41 above referred to, is a worm screw 55 mounted on a shaft 56 extending through and rotatable in a bearing 57 supported by a bracket 58 fixed to the frame of the machine, and provided with a fixed pointer 59 cooperating with a graduated scale 60 circumferentially arranged on the outer peripheral edge face of the disk 36.

An adjusting wheel 61 is fixed to the outer end of the shaft 56, rotation whereof will communicate motion through the worm screw and worm gear to the sleeve and cause the disk to rotate in a desired direction and to any desired extent to readjust the position of the depression in the segment 46 with reference to the limited path of travel of the pawl.

As the disk moves the scale moves therewith past the fixed pointer, and the degree of movement of the disk and segment 46 is indicated on the scale.

The curved end face 33 of the pawl is without teeth and preferably covered with the same material, such as brake lining, as the traction wheel, to enforce and insure frictional surface engagement therebetween. Said face is preferably arcuate, as well as having a slight eccentricity with reference to the axis of the pivot pin 29. The inner end of the face is closer to the pivot than the outer end thereof, and the roller has pivotal mounting adjacent the outer end of said face, whereby the pawl will be drawn into rm locking contact with the tractor wheel 34 upon outward movement of the lever in proper direction.

The structure described also provides a safeguard against pivotal movement of the pawl beyond its line of maximum force, and further facilitates disengagement of the pawl from the tractor wheel without backward drag of the wheel at the completion of the power stroke of the lever.

An adjustable brake including a clamp band 62 engaging the shaft 17 and a brake-operating member 63 is mounted with bearing support 21 to constantly exert sufficient pressure against the tractor wheel so that the pawl will at all times operate against a load capable of locking the pawl with the wheel.

In using apparatus including the regulating device, for example, apparatus as illustrated including a reciprocating rocking lever adapted to confer rotative movement on a shaft for intermittently delivering material, the adjusting wheel will be rotated to set the device for effecting desired extent of movement of the shaft upon each driving oscillation of the lever.

When zero on the scale mounted on disk 36 is opposite the pointer, the pawl will not engage wheel 34 at any point in its stroke and consequently, there will be no movement of wheel 34. When the maximum point of the scale is opposite the pointer, the pawl will engage the wheel at the beginning of its forward stroke in the right direction and will continue to engage and push forward the wheel until the end of its stroke. In other words, in this maximum setting the wheel will be rotated approximately 90 with each forward stroke of the pawl.

By setting the scale at any point between its zero and maximum point, the wheel will be rotated by the pawl by a succession of intermittent impulses all of equal length and in equal intervals of time. For example, with the scale at the maximum setting, the wheel would be rotated through a complete circle of 360 degrees by four strokes of the pawl, whereas if the adjustment of the scale were made for a minimum feed the wheel would be moved forward considerably less than one degree of a circle with each stroke.

The reciprocating speed of lever 27 is constant, that is, this lever will be made to reciprocate a deinte number of times per minute. Once this speed is set, lever 27, and consequently pawl 30, will reciprocate the same number of strokes per minute. Therefore, the speed with which wheel 34 rotates is determined entirely by the length of thrust given to the wheel by pawl 30 and this is, in turn, regulated by the setting of the scale, which fixes the relationship between the depression in segment 46 and the roller on the pawl.

This type of pawl and wheel that engages with it dispenses entirely with the use of a ratchet wheel, which is ordinarily used in connection with a pawl. rIhe increments of movement of wheel 3e are, therefore, not governed by the space between teeth cn a ratchet wheel but change in setting of speed control from one speed to another may be made in such small increments that they are hardly noticeable.

The apparatus thus also avoids the lost motion involved in the use of a pawl and toothed ratchet device which limits the reduction of spacing of ratchet teeth, and the rearward movement of a pawl in frictional engagement with ratchet teeth, whereby noise and backward drag are created and wearing of the teeth and ratchet teeth occur without accomplishment of useful work.

Attention is further called to the stepped operation of the plunger in opposite directions by the rack 6, gear 7, and rocking shaft S, whereby all movements of the shaft 8 under a particular setting cf the regulator will eifect delivery of equal amounts of material from the trough as contrasted, for example, with the slightly varying amounts delivered when a reciprocating bar is moved directly by a crank.

The propelling movements of the plunger in one or the other direction will therefore successively dislodge and deliver equal portions of material from the trough, and the plunger will cleanse the trough upon completion of a series of movements in each direction.

The cleansing of the trough by the plunger is particularly important when extremely small quantities of material are to be delivered intermittently, since otherwise material might tend to build up on the trough and cause delivery of unequal amounts on alternate opposite propelling movements of the plunger.

The provision for a succession of movements of a plunger in each direction is further useful for delivering materials in relatively small amounts, since the plunger may move sufciently far past t e inlet to the trough in one direction to permit material to fall into the trough on the opposite side of the plunger for delivery from the opposite end of the trough.

A plunger delivering a single dislodging impulse in one direction, and retracted after delivering the impulse, would not move surliciently far to produce an opening or space large enough to permit material to fall toward the trough, and entire suspension of feed might occur.

Attention is further particularly called to the equal movements in either direction of the reciprocating bar by the rack 6 and gear 7 in combination with the intermittent rotative movement of the shaft 17 by the eccentrically operating pawl, whereby the delivery of material by the delivering material-displacing plunger is exactly proportionate to large or extremely small movements of the shaft. The increments of movement of the plunger are also exactly proportionate to the increments of said shaft movements and variations of the setting of the regulator indicated by the scale will always eiect proportional variations in the equal amounts of material displaced by the plunger.

WhatV I claim and Patent is:

1. In apparatus of the character described including a driven wheel, and driving means including a pawl engageable with the drivenV wheel, a track member having a depressible portion, means on the pawl operable on the track member and engageable with said depressible portion for controlling the engagement of said pawl with the Ydriven wheel, and means for adjusting said track member relatively to said pawl.

2. In apparatus of the character described, a driven member, a driving member including a pawl, and means including a track having a spring-pressed segment and means on the pawl running on said track for controlling driving engagement between the pawl and the driven member.

3. In apparatus of the character described including a driven member, driving means including a pawl engageable with the driven member, and an oscillating member pivotally supporting the pawl, and pawl-controlling means including a track having a spring-pressed pivotal portion normally retaining the pivotal pawl in spaced relation with the driven member and having a recess to admit the pawl to the driven member.

4. In apparatus of the character described including a driven member, driving means including a pawl engageable with the driven member, and an oscillating member pivotally supporting the pawl, pawl-controlling means including a track having a spring-pressed pivotal portion normally retaining the pivotal pawl in spaced relation with the driven member and`having a recess to admit the pawl to the driven member, and means for adjusting the position of said track to vary the extent of movement of said driven member by said driving member.

5. In apparatus of the character described including a rotative shaft, a wheel xed to said shaft, a member frictionally engageable with said wheel for moving the same intermittently, a roller on said member, a track for said roller, depressible means associated with the track and operable by pressure of said roller for controlling the extent of engagement of said member with said wheel, means for adjusting the track to vary the extent of movement of said wheel by said member, and means for indicating the extent of movement of said wheely by said member.

6. In a device of the character described, a shaft, an oscillating member operable on the shaft and having a fixed arcuate stroke in opposite directions, a driven wheel fixed to the shaft and having a smooth periphery, a pawl member pivoted on said oscillating member arranged to move in an arc from the axis of the shaft and having a gripping face arranged to grip the periphery of the wheel when the reciprocating member moves in one direction and to release said gripping engagement when the pawl moves in the opposite direction to eiect intermittent rotation of said shaft continuously in one direction, a roller on said pawl, a cam member concentrically mounted on said shaft having a cam track desire to secure by Letters for said roller, a movable segment in the cam track, means carried by said cam member for normally supporting said segment and to effect release of said paWl from gripping engagement With the Wheel when the oscillating member moves in said direction to effect releasing of said wheel, and means for shifting said cam member rotatvely relatively to the oscillating member to vary increments of movement of said shaft.

7. In a device of the character described. a shaft, an oscillating member operable on the shaft and having a xed arcuate stroke in opposite directions, a driven Wheel fixed to the shaft having a smooth periphery, a paWl member pivoted on said oscillating member and having a gripping face arranged to engage the periphery of the wheel, a weighted leg on said pawl arranged to move the paWl into gripping relation with said wheel when the oscillating member moves in one direction to effect rotation of said shaft in one direction, a roller on said pawl, a cam member concentrically mounted on said shaft and having a cam track for said roller, a pivoted segment in the cam track adapted to be depressed by said roller, means carried by said member for returning said segment to normal position and to raise said pavvl from gripping engagement with the Wheel when the oscillating member moves in the opposite direction, and means for shifting said cam member rotatively relatively to the oscillating member to vary increments of movement of said shaft.

8. In a device of the character described, a shaft, a driven member on the shaft, a driving member, a pawl associated with the driving member and engageable With the driven member, a member mounted on the shaft having a cam track, a movable segment in the track, means carried by the paWl and operable on the track to effect movement of said segment for controlling driving engagement o the pawl With the driven member, and means carried by the track member for returning the segment to normal position to effect release of said pavvl from driving engagement with the driven member.

ALFRED E. HINE. 

